Aude Sapere
by Alycoris
Summary: He wanted to know, but he was too afraid to ask. Akihiko-centric.


It was a crisp September afternoon. Akihiko, despite being at practice had not touched a single punching bag. Nay, he hadn't even put on his gloves. He was staring absentmindedly out the window, sitting on a bench in front of his coach. He was getting an unneeded pep talk, since he apparently looked more downtrodden than he imagined. With a sigh, he excused himself from practice only to be caught up with a horde of his ever-vigilant fan girls. Annoyed, Akihiko pushed his way through and abandoned them without a second thought, and left straight away for the dorm.

Akihiko was indeed perturbed. It had been only a day since the red eyed girl finally emerged from her room. After suffering for three days, and having Shinjiro and Aigis attend to her, she was finally well enough to leave the recesses of her room.

It baffled him, somewhat.

Aigis, he could understand her obsession with taking care of the ruby-eyed girl, but Shinjiro too? THE Shinjiro Aragaki, the person who normally (pretended) not to give a fuck about the people around him, had dedicated his time for three days straight for the care of the invincible leader of S.E.E.S.. Of course, she was not invincible. According to Shinjiro, she had been reduced into a sniveling wreck for the past three days no thanks to her cold, but now, it was like it had never happened. She was smiling, in high spirits as always. Akihiko sighed to himself with relief. To be honest, while she was out sick, he offered to help Shinjiro many times with her care. But his answer remained the same as always, no matter how many times he asked.

_"Don't bother. I can handle it myself." He was told. Of course, he didn't take that as an answer, but another swift word form his best friend silenced him._

_"You can do better by doing what you do. You know this ain't your forte, Aki."_

_To which he had jokingly responded with a relaxed grin, "So it's yours, Shinji?"_

Instead of the immediate 'no' he was expecting, Shinjiro didn't respond to that. Instead, he dragged him outside of the room and shut the door in his face. Akihiko was used to his reception, but still, he had his suspicions. It was nothing of the bad sort, of course, but he still couldn't get his head wrapped around it.

Why would Shinjiro go out of his own way to take care of her? Not that it wasn't a good thing, but it hadn't even been a while since they had met; maybe a month or so, but still. Akihiko had seen them go out one or two times in the evening. Just a couple of days ago, out of the blue Shinjiro had decided to cook for everyone- which was something he had never done. Usually, Shinjiro would only make Akihiko a meal after being constantly reminded, so to him, it was unheard of.

What was with his sudden change in attitude?

Frowning to himself, Akihiko watched the view fly by as he gripped the cold steel of the metal ring.

It wasn't just that either. Today, he had found himself being ignored by Hamuko. At the front of the school gate, even after he had called her over, she walked right by him without looking back. In the hallways during break, she refused to so much as look at him. What did he ever do to her to get this treatment? Sighing, his eyes glazed as the monorail slowed to a stop.

He was annoyed; livid, maybe. Was this jealousy?

It was plausible. Ever since he had finally convinced Shinjiro to join up with S.E.E.S. again, he found himself distanced from both Hamuko and Shinjiro. Maybe they liked each other? But then again, the way Hamuko acted around Shinjiro was no different than how she acted with everyone else. She was always that way.

Shinjiro on the other hand, was a different story. Normally when approached by girls, he told them to fuck off with a shred of tact. He could intimidate anyone with just his demeanor, but as of late, he noticed a much more… softer side. Not that he didn't know about it. Of course he knew about it- they were best friends after all. But he knew Shinjiro refused to show that side to other people… until now, that is. And something else struck him as 'strange' too. Didn't Shinjiro say to keep an eye out on her when they first met? And another time, he had caught them in the lounge talking together- Shinjiro, hatless and without his double breasted pea coat, and Hamuko, sitting next to him with her head leaned against his shoulder, asleep. Akihiko would've traded away his gloves to be in his place.

Then it finally hit him. Was it possible that his best friend was falling for _her_?

Inadvertently, he bit his lip. Admittedly, Akihiko had feelings for her, but he had decided it was better if they were left unsaid. How he regretted that. But he couldn't go interrupting anything now. What kind of friend would he be if he did? Deplorably, he had lost his chance, and even if he did say his feelings now, Hamuko would probably see him no more as a friend.

But it didn't explain why he was getting ignored. Or did it? Frowning, he rubbed his temples. He already knew that he wasn't exactly the brightest when it came to recognizing relationships. This reminded him back when he had confronted Hamuko about that one rumor those girls had told him. He had blindly asked if she and Junpei were going out, and much to his relief, they weren't. He had even gone as far enough to grudgingly ask Junpei about it.

_"No man," _the cap wearing teen said dismissively. _"Hamu-tan's more of my friend than a girlfriend, y'know? Jeez, I would never think about asking her out… I mean, c'mon, we don't click that way. But seeing you ask about that gives me a sneaky suspicion that you-"_

Akihiko hadn't even bothered to wait for him to finish that question. Why was he remembering that now anyway?

He sighed again.

Akihiko couldn't allow himself to be jealous. It was a useless emotion. He couldn't use it for battle, or let alone get in the way of his daily life. He wouldn't let it ruin his relationship with his best friend.

In no time at all, he had found himself in the front of the dorm, staring at the sunbathing building. He made no motion to go inside. Rather, he contemplated why he gone straight here, instead of dropping by the beef bowl place. With another brief sigh, Akihiko opened the door with a calm look before announcing, "I'm back."

Well, one thing was for certain. No one expected him to come back early. Ken stood beside Koromaru, holding paper streamers and assorted bags of confetti in his arms. Even Koromaru had a bag of some sort in his mouth. Yukari was setting plates, while Fuuka waited patiently beside her with a banner of some sort. Mitsuru was on the phone, while Hamuko and Shinjiro stood behind the counter, cooking something.

"...So this is why everyone was avoiding me?" Akihiko began to say as he stared at the whole situation. "You guys were throwing a party without me?"

"No! That's not it at all!" Yukari began to say defensively as she set the plate down on the table.

"Akihiko-senpai, please believe us!"

"Oh yeah?"

"...Jeez, jumping to conclusions again Aki? This is how I know you're not doing well, if you of all people forgot what today is." Shinjiro cut it, stepping away from the kitchen counter to face the pale haired teenager.

"What would I possibly forget that would be important-" He began to say hotly with a confused look, but Shinjiro put him in a headlock and gestured to the décor.

"Your own birthday, you moron."

"...What?"

"September twenty-second," Shinjiro said as he released him from his grip. "Your birthday. Some man you turned out to be, huh? You may be Gekkou's champion, but shit, you sure know how to act like a little kid, don't you Aki?"

"I... What?" Akihiko felt his face turn red.

"It was supposed to be a surprise, senpai." Hamuko interrupted as she stepped out from behind the counter. Akihiko could visibly see the traces of flour streaked onto her clothes. "I got everyone to help out. I thought we'd have more time since you had practice today, but I guess I was wrong, huh?"

"I-I left practice early..." He mumbled as he gingerly scratched the bandage over his left eye.

"What, you had a stomach ache or something? You big baby." Shinjiro frowned. "It's because the only thing you ever eat is that protein shit. Didn't I tell you to eat balanced meals?"

"It's not because of that!" He yelled defensively, but much to his embarrassment his stomach growled moments later. Hamuko giggled.

"Something tells me otherwise, senpai." She chirped with a coy smile. "Well, the party's not a surprise anymore, but we can still throw it, right?"

"U-Uh... yeah..." Akihiko nodded weakly.

"Then it's settled." Mitsuru said finally as she closed her cellphone with a loud clack. "Just stay where you are, Akihiko. We can handle it."

"But I-"

"Senpai, relax! You've been a bit edgy lately." Hamuko called from the back. "This is your party! We'll be done soon enough."

"But-"

"But nothing, birthday boy." Shinjiro cut in again as he forced him to sit down in a nearby chair. "You ain't gotta do shit today. If you want to do something, stop moping and man the fuck up."

"I'm not moping!" Akihiko said testily, but Shinjiro would have nothing of it.

"The others got all the stations covered, and whatever the hell's up with you is written all over your face. Lighten up, Aki."

"Shinji..."

"Don't start that crap." He countered brusquely. "Besides, you already know that this kind of thing isn't your forte."

_Deja vu_, Akihiko thought. Inadvertently, he found himself staring at Shinjiro and asking the same question he had asked all those nights ago.

"So it's yours, Shinji?"

"Don't be an idiot." He replied as he turned back towards the Akihiko. "It always has been. You're like a goddamn brother to me, and if I don't say anything about it, you're just going to keep being the damn kid you are and ignore what I have to say. I've known you long enough to notice when you're in one of your prissy moods. Well guess what?"

"What?"

"Whatever you're thinking about is a load of crap. Don't fucking bother, and pay more attention to what's in front of you." Shinjiro murmured. "If you can't, they'll be gone before you know it."

With that, Shinjiro wordlessly returned to his post in the kitchen. Akihiko, who couldn't think of any comebacks, laid his back against the sofa and thought how stupid he had been for questioning his relationship with his best friend.


End file.
